the-missus-blogs.com

I apologize for the lack of updates on this little space. I’m actually thrilled to know that there are people who actually miss my updates – big hug to y’all :D  Heck, even I didn’t miss my blog that much, heh

We’ve been away for a lil holiday for the past 8 days. Yes, with the little one in tow. You can only imagine how heavy our luggages were! Oh try 51kgs, inclusive of both hand carry-ons. Too many luggages, so little hands! 

I’m sorting out the photos at this moment; there are tons as usual thanks to my trigger happy fingers. But I did capture a lot of happy Sairah moments and they are definitely a keeper :)  There’s nothing like going through your holiday photos and saying OMG that’s such a nice photo of her/us.  And these files are HUGE, so huge that I have to resize them which I hope to diligently do in the next few days *fingers crossed*.

Meanwhile, here are some photos taken a few days before the trip. We made sure she had her hair cut and it was her FIRST time to the hair salon. It was a VERY emotional scene for Sairah seeing her locks chopped. She’s quite obsessed with her hair (takes it from her mother probably and according to the tons of shampoo/condition/hair mask bottles found in her mom’s bathroom) and will not let ANYONE near it. I’ve always struggled with having her hair cut myself but this time I gave up and decided to get it done professionally since everyone nagged the shit out of me to get her hair sane. Curls were springing out of no way on her head so it was time! I personally thought it was cute like Curly Sue.

@ Cut Above in MV.

They charge RM30 for a kiddie hair cut – unfortunately no wash. She sat down all smiles but then soon realized what the hairstylist was doing. Cried like she was being tortured – it was semi embarrassing coz everyone started looking at us. At one point she cried until she couldn’t even breathe! That’s how much she loves her hair.

Waiting for the water works to come….

There you have it! Whyyyyyyyy!

I’ve cried over my hair before too. It was in the SAME salon that my long locks got cut into a short do many years ago when I stepped into Uni. I remember how my hair went from straight to being super curly at the back (god knows how the bitch hairstylist even did that – I prefer men hairstylist, period ) and I swore I would never step into that salon again.

Years on we’re here with Sairah. But to my defense, I’ve not personally stepped in there myself. I couldn’t find any other kid friendly hair salon in KL. SO convience it was. But it did bring back baddd memories. But I’m just happy the stylist didn’t screw up my girl’s hair.

It was indeed sane again. Which was a good thing in time for our trip.

Anyhos, do check back for updates, hope to get em sorted out soon. If anyone wants to assist me in resizing the photos,  you’re more than welcome to

If you’re Malaysian, you will know what it is like is to deal with any government agencies because all they ever do is give you the round-about chase with their don’t-know attitude which naturally creates a very bad case of efficiency level!

So yea, as my passport came to a 5 year end, sniff, the task of renewing my passport was almost inevitable. I miss my old passport coz I flipped through it and realized that little small book contained a lot of sweet memories. But then I realized that my new passport will contain even better ones because all our travels will be with my little one

I remember re-newing my passport 5 years ago at the kiosk. They had just introduced this concept and we were very eager to try it out. Naturally one tout kept harassing us to ‘help’, it was scary coz he just didn’t want to go away and did almost everything to convince mom and I to get his help. Plus damn instructions on that machine wasn’t even clear! Naturally it took all of 3 hours to get my passport.

So the other day, hubby and I went early to the branch in Damansara only to find out they have shifted to Solaris Dutamas. GREATTT, I don’t recall seeing this important notice on their website!! We drove to the new location and because the damn building says Kementrian Dalam Negeri and there is no direct indication that the building also houses the Immigration Department, we drove around Solaris Dutamas attempting to locate the immi department!! It was confusing because you have so many other government agencies housed in this area. And truth be told, I was looking for Kementerian LUAR Negeri coz you use your passport outside of Malaysia, no? It’s debatable, whatever.

After 10 minutes of wasting our time, we finally located the building. Finding the Immigration Department was easy as the sign boards INSIDE the building was clear. Off we went to the first floor. One lazy looking officer advised me to use the kiosk instead of lining up as it’s faster. So off we went to the kiosk area that looked pretty high-tech except for one or two out-of-order machines, hah. There are several officers stationed here to help you out and one lady came up to me and told me what I had to do. She was courteous and helpful unlike the other lazy makan-gaji-buta officer.

Basically have one RECENT passport size photo of yourself, a copy of your I/C, your old passport and pick up an envelope at the desk outside and write your necessary details. Follow the EASY instructions as shown on the machine, put in your RM300 (or RM100 for 2 years) together with the envelope containing all the needed docs. The machine will produce a receipt, hang on tight to that!

And I LOVE the fact that no bloody touts can come here now coz first of all, officers are everywhere and the kiosk is INSIDE the department. Your thumb print is also needed for scanning so good luck Mr Tout – go get yourself  a real job!

Now feel free to hang out at their cafeteria for a good one hour. Yes you read right, just one hour. After you’re done, go back to the same place, go to counter 29, show your receipt and then collect your number and wala within 5 minutes, you will be rewarded with your brand NEW renewed passport!!

Amazing? Yea, just ONE bloody hour for your passport. OMG can cry coz we’ve come such a LONGGGGG way. I have to say I left that place being VERY impressed and happy to know that I didn’t have to rot my precious time away waiting for my passport so well done Immigration Department – proud of you, for once :)  Also, if you prefer to do it online, there’s an option to do so here.

Btw freaking hate my mug shot coz the woman took it in less than 5 seconds!!

Hubby saw the new and old passport and went damn, you look much older now. Effin hell! Like what do you expect, that other photo was taken 7 years ago! I said, well look on the bright side, at least I still have hair LOL – yea I did hit under the belt but what the heck, you don’t EVER compare a woman’s photo taken 7 years ago and a recent one and say she looks old so he deserved it that nerd

Since we had so much extra time to ourselves now thanks to efficiency, we decided to utilize my vouchers at Jade Pot Dim Sum Restaurant in Old Klang Road.

Sup ma? Feed me! Yes it’s crazy hair day everyday today.

I said, FEED ME

Nvm, I’ll just pretend that I”m eating from a bowl

Har har this imaginary food is sooo delicious!

Mom was there too, a good break from taking care of the naughty grandkid!

And the happy face that says it all – we love dimsum but hardly have time for it.

So yea efficiency – we all love it because it gives us extra time to do something else that we’ve always wanted to do.

Again, well done Immigration Department, now please continue to be efficient and perhaps one day in the future we can renew our passports online and you come over to deliver it? Just a thought. An awesome one

P.s: Feel like doing something good? Then please go here and help donate. I’ve already done so, have you?

A week ago a friend’s wife got robbed of her bag. She was in her car ready to leave the hospital car park when 2 guys in a motorbike smashed her car window and grabbed her hand bag. Good thing she was unharmed, but the shock and knowing that nobody came to her help is something she’ll not forget.

Echoing that recent incident and what happened to my mom sometime ago, I was outside my parent’s place on Monday night taking something out from the car parked on the opposite street. The front door and gate was wide open. All of a sudden a suspicious looking car with stupid ‘blue’ lights with two bald men stopped right in the middle of the road and looked into my parent’s house. At this point my husband was in the compound with Sairah. I immediately ran walked into the compound and called out to my husband to quickly close the gate! Truth be told I was scared for all of us for that few seconds.

And seconds later, the car drove upwards and went into a neighbour’s house. They must have mistaken our house for theirs.

Our safety these days in this country, MMT.

ALWAYS be observant with your surroundings! And don’t assume these things only happen to others and not you!

We had a mini holiday recently to Philea Resort & Spa in Ayer Keroh. It was truly the perfect getaway for us because this gem of a resort is only located 1 hour 15 minutes (we took a bit longer coz the hubby drives like a woman we had a precious cargo at the back seat, lol)  from KL. And should you crave for some good Malacca food, you may achieve just that by driving into town.

We’re off to our mini trip!

Sairah is wearing a very comfy Hello Kitty top and pants from BBLuvsMe with sports shoes. Comfort first!

We checked in around 2pm after having a quick lunch in a mall nearby. We didn’t want to go into town because it would take another 30 minutes. Interestingly enough, the traffic lights in Malacca town takes a minimum of 2 minutes WAITING time when the light goes red. That really adds up to the journey and it’s so annoying I swear.

Here she is all happy coz the receptionist gave her a warm towel to freshen up.

First impression of the resort: Okay not bad, so nice of them to let us check in 1 hour earlier! Little did I know we would end up LOVING this resort. I’ve already recommended this place to so many people.

We got the Philea Suite, which is perfect coz its located justtt right outside of the pool and walking distance to the lobby. But still we hopped onto the buggy (love this place coz you can call for the buggy anytime to take you places! Your fat ass will never have to walk in the sun) and arrived to our little home.

Okay looks like a camp site in the US the hubby quipped.

I found this photo on Groupon and that’s our unit right there near the pond!!

The little pond that was facing directly opposite our unit.

And further up was this gorgeous view of a pool and man-made waterfall which Sairah had a major crush on

We opened the door and THIS greeted us. All our jaws dropped because hey let’s face it, we are a suckers for gorgeous hotel rooms – that’s the one thing that usually excites me during any trip – I’m always excited to see if the real rooms looks exactly like what is pictured on their websites. I”m lifeless, I know.

But what do you know, this room DOES look exactly as pictured. In any event, its much more gorgeous in person.

Bliss!

You can tell everyone was distracted by certain things in that room

Don’t know about you but I love this little wodden details on the mirror, adds a whole lot of warmth to it. And the soft lighting – classic!

Sairah was rummaging through the fridge to see if she could find a snack, after lunch, lol.

And now the ’star’ of the room was truly the bathroom! By far the most posh bathroom I’ve stepped into. It was as huge as Sairah’s room and just had a touch of class to it. See it for yourself:

YUP – a tv in front of the tub!!!

The shower handles and taps were made of brass which gave it a whole antique look. That night I turned on the tv, used some bath salt, soaked for a good few minutes and had  good me-time, until a certain someone came knocking on the door coz they were bored and just had to ruin my me time

After getting a high on from our hotel suite, we proceeded to check out the surroundings. Didn’t really walk much coz the weather was SUPER hot.

Love the little shed area at the pool. You can see how sweaty Sairah is. We only stayed on for a few minutes before running back to our room.

We also had some spa and dining vouchers. So hubby proceeded to do his spa session first.

The room was too comfy that I didn’t want to leave it ( maximum usage yo). So Sairah and I played for a little while…

We watched lots and lots of cartoon too….

She read (and tore!) a magazine….

She posed for her old lady….

Like so…

Is this cute enough mom?

I laughed so hard when I saw her lying down like this to watch tv. This baby sure does know how to chill! Even I don’t relax that way.

Daddy’s spa took about 2 hours, I thought it would be shorter but since we were short of time (baby was soo keen on going to the pool you see), I decided to make some sacrifice and actually cut down my spa time to just ONE hour so I could get back on time and take her to the pool. Things a mother has to do.

By then it was already 6.30pm (damn time moves so fast when  you’re enjoying yourself!), so off we went to Sairah’s highlight of the trip

Meh mom stop posing and let me swim! For the record that is not my handbag, just a ’snack’ bag – wouldn’t be caught dead with a floral bag But it does match me blouse though.

I forgot to bring my swimming suit (okay more like I didnt want anyone to see my fats pouring out!) so my poor baby girl cried coz her mom wasn’t joining her.

But after a while, she started kicking and splashing around and had a ball of a time.

Oh hai mom, wish you were here too

Do check out this video here to see how gorgeous the surrounding is!

Saying bye to the pool. We were bent on coming back the next morning but the bed was too comfie that we woke up late

A luxurious bath time. 

All set for dinner

When we steped out the room we were greeted by this! Such a clever touch with the lights. Made the place look so alive. 

Dinner was on their Cravo Cravo restaurant. We were suppose to have a 3 course western meal but they upgraded it to the buffet. SWEET.

Sairah actually knocked off at 9pm from all that swimming! Imagine that. But I promptly woke her up 15 minutes later so I was afraid she’d wake up at an odd hour as her sleeping time is usually 10ish.

I also love the fact that they have a decent play room for kids. They have tons of board games, boxes of lego set just to keep the lil ones busy.

She really thought it was a real balloon, heh.

And believe it or not, I was also so tired (or perhaps the bed was too comfy) that I actually knocked off by 11ish. And woke up around 9.30 a.m the next day. Well rested yo.

YES TV on right after I wake up. Y u no put TV in my room ma?

Off we head for a good hearty B’fast with little miss sleepy head.

Koko Krunch with milk – hmpf, I can chow that down in less than 2 minutes. Challenge accepted!

See told ya. Water time!

Aight, so what do we do now old lady? Here’s a video of the little one entertaining herself

Pavillion Room

One last walk about before we pack with a heavy heart and leave this place.

Though I’ve been to Malacca many times already, never did I know there would be such a gorgeous resort located right after the Ayer Keroh toll. We were not expecting much; in return we definitely received the most awesome experience one can ever have. It’s only a pity that experience lasted for one night.

Everything about Philea Resort & Spa was perfect and comes highly recommended by yours truly.

The Philea Suite which we stayed in goes for RM1.2k on their site. You can get it cheaper for RM800 (inclusive tax) on Agoda.com

Naturally Groupon was running a deal for their smaller room for less than RM500.

And yes if you know me well enough you should know by now that I almost never pay retail for anything. That really is fast becoming my personal tag line, lol. Together with our very luxurious suite, dinner for two, and spa package all worth close to RM2k, safe to say we paid less than what even Groupon was charging *grins*

Nope, not gonna reveal my source :D  I attribute it to 50% hard work researching  + 50% luck

But hey even if we did fork out premium price, I would say its money well spent (okay fine so we might have skipped the expensive dinner buffet and spa and hole up in our room 24/7, ahem).

Now if only we’ll have better luck scoring cheaper room for the Royal Villa suite coz we passed by the unit and it was indeed gorgeous!

My parents have this little antique chest drawer that houses old albums. It was ‘featured’ on Sairah’s photo shoot some time ago

So the other day, out of boredom and to entertain my child who had the sniffles, I dug out the old albums and decided to go through em, just for the heck of it.

One of the album that really stood out was my grandmother’s scrap book. In it laid photos of all her memories and people who I myself could not recognize. I remember growing up as a child she’d be so secretive with this book and would stash it in her drawer. She used to talk of great lengths about the Japanese occupation and how her higher studies had come to an abrupt because of the war and how they survived on very little food. She was most definitely proud of her Jaffna roots and told me stories of the days back in Sri Lanka. They had huge lands that they had to eventually give away because they had made their life in Malaysia. I always told her I would go back and claim the land! I think I totally should one day :)  Until her old age, she would always remind us how my sister made holes to whatever school certs she had using a punch hole and it’s funny how I still remember this detail till today.

That’s a photo of my dad’s father, I never got to meet my both grandfathers because they passed away before I was even born. If you look close enough he actually does have colored eyes. One of the things that my grandmother and dad told my mom to check on me when I was born were my eyes – to see if they were colored. Alas, nope Blast this dark brown eyes!

A very young photo of my grandmother, still think of her very much till today.

And this was my grandfather at 50 if I’m not mistaken, he left this world at a young age of perhaps 52. My father’s only brother also left this world at 40 after he collapsed at a restaurant due to a heart-attack. The look on my grandmother’s face as she wailed knowing her son had gone before her would be something I will never forget. I was only 12 when that happened.

So, that’s my great-grandparents? I love how attentive she was when I showed her these photos. I remember even once Sairah was literally ‘talking’ and making conversation to the two photos of my grandparents that are mounted on the wall.

Now that’s Bobby! The greatest alsation dog there ever was. He helped save my grandmother’s life when a buglar came into their home. Bobby pounced on him and bit him until he bled and ran away. And to think Bobby was actually really afraid of thunder. Dad said I used to sit on his back and go to the playground when I was a kid. Hey, like my very own horse, except it was a heroic dog who saved my grandmother’s life. He died of depression a week after my grandmother and father gave him away to my aunt when they moved into our current house that didn’t have enough compound for him to run.

Then I managed to dig up some photos of my parents.  This was during their registration days. From what I hear from her sister, she used to be very much in ‘demand’ and you can see why. From lawyers to well to do chinese businessmen, she eventually chose my father for his chubby happy go lucky ways (back then of course now we just see him as a grumpy old but wise man, hehe), and always said she loved how the car would smell of his cologne when he picked her up for dates. He wasn’t very rich but eventually climbed his way up the corporate ladder so you can tell why I chose love over everything else. 

Hippy cool parents during their ‘clubbing’ days.

This was taken in PD when my dad bought our holiday apartment. We have so much memories of going to PD for school holiday. But as we grew older, we got sick of it and he sold it off eventually. Kids can be pretty ungrateful sometimes.

Then of course, their lives progressed and 12 months into their marriage I was born. YUP, I was made on the very first month of their marriage, LOL. I used to think it was a shot-gun wedding but the months pretty much add up, married in December, born in October You do the maths!

Look like I was a pretty tall baby unlike Sairah :p

YUP a BIG dot on my forehead so the world will know I’m an Indian baby

Attempting to play the organ, I eventually learned the piano instead. And drums, melodian and trumpet in school. But can’t play any of it now to save my life.

My FIRST birthday -figured it was the first from the cake My mom cooked all the meals by herself and I told her I would rather cut my finger than slave in the kitchen for our guest! Women thesedays

And here’s the teddy I was mentioning in my previous post! TEDDY!

And another favorite doll of mine

I think you can tell by now that Sairah gets her camera-loving ways from me. I remember seeing photos of the huband when he was younger but he’s always not even looking at the camera with either a duh or lost face on so……:lol:

Unlike me, my mom was still slim even after having me. She blames BabySis for the weight gain coz everything changed after that brat’s arrival. Yea everything changed, she said I screamed and wailed that ‘mommy’s got a new baby’ when she first arrived and would poke her on her face when she would sleep.

Happy times before the brat arrived, I kid!

MOM, come watch TV with me!

Playing one of my master-piece, heh.

I SAID, come-watch-tv-with-me-NOW!

Just being an attention seeker, LOL

My third birthday with my mom’s mother. Again, what’s up with the numbered cake??? Must have been in ‘fashion’ then.

Now this is my cousin Roshan!! He used to be sooooooo fair and cute, had eyes big as John Arbuckle. We used to call him that alot. Used to be a total worm, never sitting still so it’s weird to see him so mellow now that he’s older. Yea, naughty boys do turn out to be calmer, eventually

The cousins, hahaha, Babysis not being lady like at all!

Playing snake and ladders with my grandmother. Besides playing board games to entertain us, she used to feed me with her bare hands until I was errr 10-11 and would massage my back until I was in Uni. She was that awesome and I can see my mom doing all that for Sairah in the future.

That’s me with one of my fav Uncle. He’s actually Chinese who converted to Sikhism so he could marry my aunt. So yea you can imagine what’s it like being a Chinese guy with a SINGH to his name

Another one with my mom’s mom. Oh there are no photos of my mom’s dad coz I couldnt find any. He died when she was only 7 years old!

BabySis with my dad’s mom. She lived with us. So I got that back massage almost everyday

Now this photo is just too precious for words. Yea I look retarded in it but see what I’m holding on? It’s SMARTIES and the packaging was certainly different back then. My mom said we’d sometimes walk to the bus station or supermarket  and I’ll quietly follow her so long I have my smarties in my hand. And until today I still do have a soft spot for smarties – best chocolates EVER!

Just a random shot of Sairah’s amazing long eyelashes incase you’re already bored of all these old photos.

Like they say, a picture paints a thousand words and more. You can really can tell what sort of childhood you’ve had just by looking at old photos. Are you generally happy in it? Are you smiling in it?

Have you gone through your old photo albums? If you’ve not, I suggest you do, it will give you a whole different opinion of life and make you appreciate it more.

If it evokes a happy feeling with a gush of memories and details, then yes my friend, you are blessed with a good life and we only hope to pass that on to our kids.

When Sairah’s bigger I only hope she would have that same feeling I had as I looked at these photo albums coz that’s when I’ll know we actually did something right for her childhood. In any event, she’ll also have this blog to remind her of her younger days